The Place: From Cusco, a 3 hour minibus trip takes you to the beginning of the 4 day Camino Inka.
Some Features: All day spanish lessons from Santiago our guide. Walking through both dry (seco) mountainous regions aswell as dense and wet (mogado) jungles. Seeing snow on the mountains in the distance and hiking to an altitude of 4214m. Stopping for lunch in the middle of a pack of alpaca's. Seeing the incredible Inca ruins along the hiking trail.
The Crescendo: Arriving at the breathtaking Machu Picchu early on the last day. The ruins of Machu Picchu are spectacular. At an altitude of 2800m this city was built primarily for royalty and religion. The rock structures are built on the edges of massive cliffs and are earthquake proof due to the 14% angle that they slope aswell as the method that the bricks fit tightly together. Worshipping the condor (blue skies, peace, heaven), the puma (power, the present), and the snake (the underground, afterlife, intelligence) many religious structures are found in the ruins aswell as mirrors for the stars (being small reflective rock pools), and replicas of the macchu picchu mountains and of constellations such as the southern cross made of rock.
Strange observation: The coca leaf is used by the porters for energy and to prevent altitude sickness. True, the coca leaf is used to make cocaine, however in it's natural form it is not a drug. And it works, heh heh, Sahana and I had a competition to see who can shove the most coca leaves into their cheek while ascending the highest peak on the second day. Hence the fat cheek in the pic.
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